Nature of Your Neighborhood

is currently the Farm Manager at Yes Farm with the Black Farmers Collective and co-chair of the Environmental Justice Committee for the City of Seattle. In 2019, they graduated from the University of Washington with a BS in Environmental Science and Resource Management and a minor in Geography. As a queer, disabled deaf Black non-binary person, their intersectional identity informs the way they walk through the world and the work they do. They have committed their life’s work centered around food sovereignty and Black liberation, continuing to organize around community building, growing food, healing, and our relationships to the land and each other.

Nyema Clark is the founder and Director of Nurturing Roots Farm located on Beacon Hill. She currently hosts workshops ranging from germination to systemic food oppression participating on panels and lectures, sharing her journey as a black female entrepreneur. She is also an organizing keyholder of the Black Power Epicenter Collective. As a black small business owner and founder of Avenue South, she produces handmade natural culinary and body products. Nyema is committed to enriching underserved communities, her strength and overall goal is founded in youth empowerment and community economic sustainability.

MistyDawn is a gender-free earth lover and artist. On their mother’s side, they are Mexican, Spaniard and a reconnecting descendant of the Mescalero Apache. On their Father’s side they are Scottish. MistyDawn has been a lover and steward of the earth since childhood when they busied themself with harvesting herbs for potion making and mud for pies. Only in adulthood did MistyDawn realize the depth to which their family of origin has been disconnected from earth, tribe, and cultural practices. In response to this realization, MistyDawn has made reconnecting to kin, ancestors, and the land their lifelong work. Currently, MistyDawn works with Black Star Farmers to facilitate challenging conversations around identity and belonging while helping historically oppressed folks in the city reclaim their agency and connection to the land by learning to grow delicious food and save seeds.

Rubin is a designer with experience designing movie theaters, industrial, and retail spaces around the States. He is currently working on new projects for a major, globally renowned client. From work with the marketing teams at Taubman College at the University of Michigan – where he earned his Master’s in Architecture – to a multitude of graphic design jobs, he has become comfortable at managing branding while creating artistic narratives. In what little spare time he has, Rubin pursues an active art and photography business, selling his works online and doing frequent photoshoots from his home base in Seattle.

Sarah Rackowski is a high school student from Princeton, New Jersey, and has been interested in birds and nature for as long as she can remember. She began birdwatching in elementary school and ever since has been fascinated by birds and their environments. Preparation for her research on feral pigeons began in her first year of high school and throughout her senior year. Sarah’s study of the microevolution and regional variation of feral pigeons took her from Maine to Florida to collect data. With her results identified and paper written, her research is slated for publication by 2022. Aside from the hard science side of avian study, Sarah is also interested in nature in art and literature, as well as the philosophy of science.

David B. Williams is an author, naturalist, and tour guide whose award-winning book Too High and Too Steep: Reshaping Seattle’s Topography explores the unprecedented engineering projects that shaped Seattle during the early part of the twentieth century. He is also the author of Seattle Walks: Discovering History and Nature in the City, Stories in Stone: Travels Through Urban Geology, and The Seattle Street-Smart Naturalist: Field Notes from the City. Williams is also a Curatorial Associate at the Burke Museum. His upcoming book, Homewaters: A Human and Natural History of Puget Sound, will be published in April 2021. 

Jose Gonzales (he/him) has been a garden professional for over 20 years. Growing up in the PNW, Jose has learned to appreciate our unique climate and learned how to care for our natural environment through plants and gardening. He worked at City People’s Garden Store for 20 years, as well as being one of the owners from 2017-2020. As a gardener, helping people upkeep and design their garden areas, installing above ground drip irrigation, problem solving all kinds of plant issues- his passion for plants always shines through. He also finds great joy and satisfaction as the leader of the popular jazz trio, The Jose ‘Juicy’ Gonzales Trio.

Katie Remine coordinates Woodland Park Zoo’s involvement in Pacific northwest wildlife conservation, including projects to recover local endangered species and projects to help communities coexist with local wildlife from carnivores to pollinators. Katie is a particular fan of bumble bees and – of course – katydids!

Erin Sullivan works in the Animal Management Department at Woodland Park Zoo in Seattle where she shares her passion for the amazing world of invertebrates through informal education while participating in conservation efforts and scientific research.  In her free time, Erin can be found photographing insects in her backyard or anywhere insects may be flying.

Jose Gonzales (he/him) has been a garden professional for over 20 years. Growing up in the PNW, Jose has learned to appreciate our unique climate and learned how to care for our natural environment through plants and gardening. He worked at City People’s Garden Store for 20 years, as well as being one of the owners from 2017-2020. As a gardener, helping people upkeep and design their garden areas, installing above ground drip irrigation, problem solving all kinds of plant issues- his passion for plants always shines through. He also finds great joy and satisfaction as the leader of the popular jazz trio, The Jose ‘Juicy’ Gonzales Trio.